Since its foundation in 1946, the Cannes Film Festival has been one of the most prestigious events in the international film industry. Its highest prize, the Palm d’Or, is one of the most coveted awards in the entire movie world, granted to the best film in a certain year’s installment of the festival.
Over the decades, a wide variety of movies from all sorts of countries, genres, and directors have won this award, earning their rightful place in cinema history as outstanding works of art. However, only a handful of filmmakers have the privilege of winning two Palm d’Or, an admirable achievement that proves their quality as artists and the timelessness of their movies.
1 Alf Sjöberg — 1946 & 1951
Though he’s mostly known for his work in theater, the Swedish director Alf Sjöberg deserves more praise than he gets for his work on film, having made some truly excellent movies that have sadly faded into relative obscurity over the years.
His film Torment (legendary Swedish auteur Ingmar Bergman‘s debut as a screenwriter) was one of eleven movies tied for Cannes’s big prize in the festival’s first edition, and the romantic drama Miss Julie (an intensely powerful adaptation of a fantastic play) gave the director his second Palm d’Or.
2 Francis Ford Coppola — 1974 & 1979
Francis Ford Coppola, the mind behind some of American cinema’s greatest masterpieces, is an artist that should need no introduction. His powerful and distinctive visual style, bending of traditional Hollywood rules, and endless dedication to telling enveloping and engaging stories make him one of the medium’s most iconic representatives.
Coppola won the award for two of his most highly acclaimed classics: First, The Conversation, and then Apocalypse Now. The former is a spine-tingling thriller with a riveting protagonist played brilliantly by Gene Hackman, and the former (aside from having arguably the director’s most troubled production) is one of the most impactful war movies ever made.
3 Billie August — 1988 & 1992
Billie August is a Danish director that is sadly not talked about enough, having directed a number of movies all across the world, including his native Denmark and the United States.
In 1988, August won the Palm d’Or for Pelle the Conqueror, a beautiful and powerfully acted tale about fatherhood and migration; in 1992, he won for The Best Intentions, a moving semi-autobiographical drama written by Bergman about the complex relationship between his parents. Both are terrific and tragically underrated works of art.
4 Emir Kusturica — 1985 & 1995
The French-Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica has been one of Europe’s most renowned directors since the ’80s when his surreal and sympathetic stories first started showing the world what he was capable of as an artist.
Cannes first lauded Kusturica for When Father Was Away on Business, and then for Underground. Both are phenomenal movies that are more than deserving of the award, incredible dramedies with biting humor and a kind of energy that only Kusturica’s filmography can evoke.
5 Shōhei Imamura — 1983 & 1997
Japan has produced some of cinema’s most popular directors, from Akira Kurosawa to Hayao Miyazaki, but there are also many others that deserve equal praise. Shōhei Imamura is certainly one of them.
The Ballad of Narayama is certainly a bizarre little gem, but its engaging characters and unique style make it irresistible. The Eel is every bit as great, a riveting drama about two souls trying to move on from wounds of their past. Imamura was a key figure in revolutionizing Japanese cinema, and these two phenomenal movies prove it.
6 Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne — 1999 & 2005
The Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne are one of the best directing duos of all time, creating some really evocative movies about the working class and social environment in their home country.
The Dardennes won a Palm d’Or first for Rosetta, a harrowing drama about the harsh struggle to survive in a cold and cruel society, then, for The Child, a romantic crime drama about spiritual redemption. Both are beautifully intimate and touching stories, deserving of much more recognition now that they have mostly been forgotten.
7 Michael Haneke — 2009 & 2012
Known for the gut-wrenching power of his provocative and transgressive films, Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke has cemented himself as a controversial director, but Cannes clearly loves him.
Both The White Ribbon and Amour are praised as two of the best foreign films of the 21st century, and it isn’t hard to see why. Haneke’s style may be divisive, but it’s inimitably great. The White Ribbon is a dark and thought-provoking critique of fascism, and Amour offers one of the most heartbreaking depictions of love ever put on celluloid.
8 Ken Loach — 2006 & 2016
The British writer-director Ken Loach has built a reputable career by making very self-aware stories dealing with tough social issues told through beautifully made films populated by compelling characters.
Loach has made a number of noteworthy films, but the biggest standouts are The Wind That Shakes the Barley and I, Daniel Blake, tales with very profound and thought-provoking social themes that caught the attention of the Cannes Film Festival with ease. Complemented by beautiful cinematography and towering performances, both films stand out among the most recent winners of the Palm d’Or.
9 Ruben Östlund — 2017 & 2022
As of publication, Swedish auteur Ruben Östlund is the most recent recipient of two Palm d’Or. His provocative yet elegant satirical style has proved to be pretty hit-or-miss with many audience members; but when they’re a hit, his films become some of the most talked-about of their respective year.
The Square is an exquisite dark comedy that became a very surprising winner of Cannes’s top prize; Triangle of Sadness is more than your typical kind of social satire about the rich and class conflict, told in three vastly distinct acts with a number of fascinating characters and a morbid sense of humor. Östlund may not be for everyone, but that’s what the Palm d’Or has always been about, awarding unconventional films that push the envelope and test the limits of cinema as a medium.
